DURHAM — By Jan. 28, work crews should be starting to haul away Camp Fire debris from Paradise, according to a Cal Office of Emergency Services official.

Eric Lamoureux, Cal OES acting deputy director, told about 200 who gathered Thursday night at the Durham Memorial Hall how Phase II of the debris removal was going to launch.

He also answered questions in regards to criticism that the state and the Army Corps of Engineers has taken.

While work is expected to start Jan. 28, officials have not announced the location of the proposed debris processing site.

After the meeting Lamoureux said a debris processing site has not yet been chosen, and that “12 sites” are still being considered.

The state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were criticized for suggesting the once-contaminated Koppers site in Oroville could receive concrete, masonry and metal. But officials pointed out that its location on Highway 70 is convenient to bring debris down from Paradise to a rail spur for transport out of the area, and the site is not close to residential areas.

Lamoureux also responded to comments in regards to Tetra Tech, an engineering firm hired by the state to test soil contamination.

The Sacramento Bee reported the company has been sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for faking soil samples during the clean-up of the former Hunters Point naval shipyard in San Francisco, a federal project. U.S.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has called for a review of the company’s federal contracts.

Lamoureux said the state has used the company about half a dozen times and “never had an issue.”

He blamed the problem on “rogue employees” who are no longer with the company. In response, the state is adding its own auditing process for the whole project, he said.

State Senator Jim Nielsen, R-Red Bluff, has stated he has concerns about the magnitude of the process, the narrowness of the ridge’s roads, and the process in general.

“It is so critical that it is done thoroughly, as soon as possible, and right for Paradise. This organization had previous difficulties with the quality of clean up. I will be very vigilant that we will be watching this clean up and making sure it’s by the book.”

Neilsen said he is investigating the contract, and that, “We need as much openness about this, and that the job is done right, and benchmarks fastidiously met.”

The Bee also reported that a competing company, Arcadis, has challenged the $250 million contract awarded to Tetra Tech, but the latter company has already started work.

Lamoureux noted that Tetra Tech is not the general contractor for the clean up project, which has been estimated at costing about $3.5 billion.

Clean up of the first phase of the Camp Fire debris, which concerns removing household hazardous waste, is more than half way done.

In a meeting in Concow last month Lamoureux said that clean up contractors would be required to set up their own base camps for workers and equipment so that they wouldn’t compete with victims’ housing.

PG&E had set up a base camp at the former Tuscan Ridge golf course on the Skyway, and other utilities are clustered off East Park Avenue.

Another meeting in regards to Phase II of the debris clean up is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at Manzanita Place, with a drop-in session on right-of-entry forms at 5:30 p.m.